Page 12 of Depths of Desire (The Emerald Dagger Mafia #3)

Now? They're mercenaries, enforcers, and body disposal teams for those with the money or blood to hire them. The taller of the two is built like a weightlifter. He inhales loudly and shakes his head. The shorter one, who looks is still big and is built like a fireplug, nods and pulls out his phone. “They’re not here.”

The taller one says, “She’s never been here. There’s no scent.”

The fireplug repeats the statement into the phone and waits a beat. Then he nods. “Got it,” and hangs up. “Boss says to trash the place.”

The two start pulling the room apart. It takes them no time at all to disappear from the video, but the crashing and banging continue.

My entire apartment is being destroyed. Fire runs through my veins.

It is taking everything I have not to tear out of the room, fly across the sky, and rip those two apart.

My fangs grow longer, and I have to will myself to calm down.

“You wouldn’t get there in time,” Renzo says.

I open my mouth to argue with him, but notice Luna watching me. “Right. It’s just a wee upsetting watching my place be destroyed.”

She frowns. “They look weird. Like they’re sick.” Blood Orcs are typically grayish with super dark eyes. “Is that normal? Maybe they’re just junkies or something who broke in?”

“No. They broke in on purpose,” I respond. I don’t bother explaining that they look like Blood Orcs always look… grey skin and cold dead black eyes.

“Wait. What did he mean when he said she’s never been here? Was he talking about me? How could he smell my scent?”

Those were all very good questions, but I wasn’t sure how to answer any of them. Not without telling her the truth. Not without revealing that vampires and magickal creatures exist, which is something I have no intention of doing.

“Wait,” Luna says. “Does this have anything to do with the ship exploding?”

I roll my shoulders and sigh, trying to get my body to relax. “Good fucking question. Seems like too much of a coincidence for this to be happening, and it’s not connected to the ship.”

Renzo disappears from the screen for a moment and then reappears in the frame.

“I agree. We should operate on the assumption that we were the target of that ship sinking. Someone wanted to damage us, and they were successful. We lost two full shipments, which means we’re going to have a lot of unhappy customers. ”

He immediately switches to telepathic mode.

That shipment of blood was the first ‘goodwill’ shipment to show the other vampire families in Europe that we’re in business and we’re able to take care of their needs.

All that fucking time and energy just went up in fucking smoke.

Losing the shipment of drugs doesn’t tickle either.

We’re going to take a large loss on it. Not the end of the world, but it’s not good news.

I rack my brain for a reason for all this. Who the hell is behind this? Who wants to take us down?

Renzo snorts. Who doesn’t?

Luca’s energy pushes at me, and he joins the conversation. The break-in was definitely done by Orcs. Sorry Nico. The stench is unbelievable. It’s going to take some serious effort to get that place cleaned up and Orc odor-free.

Fuck, I growl. I fucking hate Blood Orcs. Who the hell is sending those assholes to break into my place?

It’s got to have something to do with the ship blowing up and us losing two shipments, Luca commented.

Not necessarily. Blood Orcs can work for anyone, but it’s a possibility, and yeah, we just came to the same conclusion ourselves, Renzo agreed.

It must be connected to the ship blowing up.

Get on the call with us. Mia and Luna need to hear this.

I have a feeling Luna knows more than she’s telling, and Mia might be able to get it out of her.

I add Luca to the call, interrupting the girls’ conversation. “Luna,” Luca says by way of greeting. She nods in return but stays silent.

“I’m trying to track the…men who broke into your apartment, Nico.

As soon as I have any info, I’ll let you know.

When Renzo and I looked at the ship’s video, we obviously saw Luna was there, so I checked her apartment as a precaution.

It’s been tossed as well. Same guys, or at least I think so.

” Luca nudges me telepathically. Renzo wanted to go over the footage with me. I had no choice. Sorry.

Luna let out a small squeak and then put her hands on my desk to steady herself.

It’s fine. “I’m sorry, Luna.” I rub her back.

I want to say more. I want to say that I will kill those fucking Blood Orcs for touching her stuff and I will make sure whoever they work for suffers a painful death, but I can’t say any of that.

It’s not the right place or time, nor is it something I’m supposed to be feeling.

This rage is almost blinding, and I have no idea why the idea of Luna being hurt in any way brings it out in me. I take a deep breath.

“Luna, we can get you all new stuff, and you wanted to paint your apartment anyway, remember?” Mia cajoled.

Luna offered her friend a weak smile, but didn’t bother to comment.

She was shaken. Her adrenaline is flooding her veins.

She keeps her face neutral, but her heartbeat is off the charts.

There’s more going on besides someone tossing her apartment.

She’s terrified. The scent of fear once again makes her blood so appealing. One little taste would be divine.

Nico! Renzo’s voice echoes in my mind, and I snap to attention.

“I have to go,” Renzo growls. “I need to talk to some people and smooth some ruffled feathers since the shipments are lost. Luca, see what you can dig up on those Or—guys.”

“Will do,” Luca says and then disappears from the call.

“Nico,” Renzo continues, “you and Luna stay put. Work your magic from there and see if you can come up with who will benefit the most from us losing those shipments.”

“Whoever it is, they sure as hell didn’t care if they made a scene, which is odd in our world.” I add telepathically, I can’t imagine any vampire would risk bringing all that attention.

I would normally agree. Renzo sighs. But you know as well as I do that there’s something going on in the Magickal realm. There has been for a while now. This could be part of that. Whatever it is, whoever this is, they must be stopped.

Yes, before they bring the whole world down on us. If that happens, no one, human or magickal, will be safe.